We Provide Bankruptcy Help for Military Members

As a provider of bankruptcy help, we find that there is a lot of confusion surrounding whether or not military members can file for bankruptcy.  It is commonly thought that those serving should be in a stable financial situation, pay their bills on time, and not have any direct financial issues.  This would be wise considering the situation these men and women are in, especially during deployment.  However, this is not always the case as many members of the military actually have more expenses due to relocating their families, caring for properties while they are away, etc.  With this in mind, it can be easy for military families, just like civilian families, to find themselves facing financial hardship.

If this sounds like you – we can help.  Members of the military have the same legal rights to file bankruptcy that civilians have.  In fact, thanks to the Service Member Relief Act, military members can have some added benefits such as disabled veterans not needing to take the Chapter 7 means test.  The one thing to consider prior to filing is where you are trying to go in your career and whether or not you will need a high-security clearance.  If that is the case, let us know so that we can discuss all of your options.  Bankruptcy may harm your ability to get high-level clearances so we will want to go over this in detail. 

For most military members, the main goal is to have their family financially secure and stable.  With a regular paycheck, mountains of debt can be the one thing that stands in the way of achieving that dream.  This is where filing bankruptcy can be extremely helpful.  While providing bankruptcy help, we will start by learning about the types and amount of debt that you have, including what your payments are.  We will then want to know about your income and family expenses so that we can determine if you should have any funds left over to make debt payments.  If you do, that’s okay.  You may still qualify for bankruptcy. 

There are two main types of bankruptcy that an individual can file.  Chapter 13 is a reorganization that allows you to pay your creditors a portion of what you owe them.  In this scenario, we would work with you to determine how much money you have to allocate towards debt repayments after your bills and expenses like groceries and gas have been accounted for.  Next, a repayment plan would be proposed that states how many years you would be making this debt payment.  If approved, at the end of this term any remaining debt would be wiped out.  This allows you to pay something without having your family suffer on a monthly basis. 

As a provider of bankruptcy help, we can also help you to file a Chapter 7.  In this situation, your debts would be wiped out entirely.  It is important to note, however, that if you want to keep an asset like a home or car that has a loan on it, you will need to continue making those payments.  If you are in the military, or a civilian, call us to discuss your situation and which type of bankruptcy is right for you.

A Bankruptcy Lawyer Can Help With Your Reaffirmation Agreements

As a bankruptcy lawyer, I help clients to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy on a regular basis.  This type of bankruptcy allows people to have the majority of their debts wiped out entirely.  Not everyone qualifies as you need to pass a means test, but those that do can get a fresh start on life.  

When considering whether or not you want to file a Chapter 7 it is important to think about what you want to keep and what you want to let go of.  Your home, for example, can typically be kept if you are willing to continue making the mortgage payment.  Likewise, your other secured debts can either be wiped out (this will require you to give back the item), you can buy it out (pay what you owe and keep the item) or you can reaffirm the loan agreement. This gives you a lot of flexibility in deciding what debts you want to keep based on which items you want to retain.  For example, if you own two cars that each have loans on them you can decide to keep one and reaffirm the loan while giving the other car back to the bank so that the debt can be eliminated in the bankruptcy. The only exception to this is if you have a lot of equity in an asset, the court may require it to be sold so that the cash can be distributed amongst your debtors.

If you decide to reaffirm any of your debts, you should work with a bankruptcy lawyer to ensure that it is done correctly.  Reaffirming basically means that you have decided to keep the asset, a car for example, and continue to make the loan payments.  Since you have the option of giving it back and declaring the debt as part of your bankruptcy, you have room to negotiate with the lender.  You continuing to make payments is in their best interest because they will recover the most amount of money.  As such, some banks will negotiate with you.  Typically smaller banks can be easier to work with, but we can help to negotiate on your behalf.  Some lenders will agree to reduce the amount that you owe them while others may lower your interest rate and the amount of your monthly payment.  This can be extremely helpful when you are trying to wipe out debts because you can’t financially afford the payments.  For example, a car payment at $500 a month may be unreasonable while a payment of $300 may be affordable.  

The creditor is under no obligation to renegotiate and offer you a better deal, but they often will as part of your reaffirmation agreement.  Working with a professional bankruptcy lawyer can help to increase your chances of success.  We find that as these negotiations take place, it is much easier to decide which assets to keep because a realistic picture of your total budget emerges.  Once you know how much money you can afford to spend servicing debt, we can negotiate so that the assets you do keep, fit within that budget range.